Who's Your Favorite Historical Figure?

[abaris]

You don't get an anti-war vibe from Japan because the Imperial Rule Assistance Association wouldn't allow it and they had the backing of the Army. The 26 February Incident proved that violence was the law of the land in Japan.

Well, Hitler's Germany didn't allow it either. But the regular reports of the SD paint a pretty realistic picture of German anti war sentiment. These reports were only used internally. So they had no incentive to lie about anything they reported.

It was also kind of obvious, even to foreign correspondents in the fall of '39 that the Germans wanted anything but war. That sentiment changed with the big victories of '40 but came back with the start of the invasion of the Soviet Union and the first large defeats in the winter of '41.

I never had access to Japanese data, so I left that one open.